


Fear in Love

by dxrkphoenix



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Avatar: The Last Airbender References, F/F, Gen, Implied Mai/Ty Lee, Inspired by Avatar: The Last Airbender, implied ty lee/azula, implied tymai, implied tyzula, up to interpretation, wlw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:47:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25575280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dxrkphoenix/pseuds/dxrkphoenix
Summary: The perspective of Ty Lee, and a bit of Azula, about their complicated relationship, and how it grows and falters throughout the series until the events of Sozin’s Comet.This is my first public fic ever, so I hope you enjoy. It’s written with Tyzula in mind but it’s totally up to interpretation. Enjoy.
Relationships: Azula/Ty Lee (Avatar), Mai/Ty Lee (Avatar)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 25





	Fear in Love

**Author's Note:**

> All of the relationships are implied and up to the reader to discern. It’s fairly short, but I hope it conveys the humanity in these relationships that some people in the ATLA fan base like to ignore. <3

“It is much safer to be feared than loved because ... love is preserved by the link of obligation which, owing to the baseness of men, is broken at every opportunity for their advantage; but fear preserves you by a dread of punishment which never fails.” - Niccolo Machiavelli

Everyone loved Azula. But no one loved Azula. No one except Ty Lee, really. At least, that’s how they both saw it,  
Azula chose not to think about the relationships she’d tried and failed to maintain. Her mother despised her no matter how ‘loving’ she presented herself as. With each interaction, ever since she was small, Azula could feel the fear and disgust radiating off of Ursa. She’d gotten used to the feeling as she got older. Zuko was difficult to explain. Did Zuko hate her? It was quite a possibility. Truthfully, she was never the sister that brothers wanted. But Zuko was weak. Even if he wanted to hate her, he wasn’t strong enough to. He was always the weakest in the family, and their father made that clear. Azula couldn’t be kind to him. She couldn’t be anything like him, truly. It would be an insult to her father. She couldn’t risk that.  
There were only two people that Azula truly knew she could trust. People that could truly love her.  
Mai and Ty Lee.  
Mai always had an interest in ZuZu. She was still a close friend, of course. Strong, competitive, and more caring than she let on. It was actually comical- she tried so hard to keep everything built up, putting up a wall, but Azula could read her like a book. A simple twitch of the mouth was the ultimate tell. Azula was great at that, like everything else- but it was still a testament to their relationship. Truth be told, it comforted Azula a bit. She knew her better than her own parents. They had something special.  
Even then, however, Ty Lee was Azula’s true best friend. She certainly wouldn’t admit that to her. It was a sign of weakness, of course. But Ty Lee was always there for her when she needed her, ever since they were small. Even when she resisted, Azula knew she would always come around. Because she cared.  
Because she was important. 

Ty Lee always saw Azula differently than everyone else. Sure, they all revered her. Azula was the perfect girl after all- a fire bending prodigy who was intelligent, beautiful, cunning, and a natural born leader. Everyone wanted to be her. But Ty Lee didn’t want to be her. She didn’t want to be close to her so that she could get the perks of her status or to learn how to be a better bender.  
She wanted to be with her. All the time.  
In Ty Lee’s eyes, Azula was the most perfect girl in the world. And every time that she told her that, she sincerely meant it. Azula was perfect. She was one of the most powerful fire benders that Ty Lee had ever seen, and she always knew exactly how to use it. When she took charge, she always did everything right. It was impossible to lose when you were on her side. Her plans and ideas were always on point. Ty Lee could babble on and on about her for hours. In fact, there were plenty of moments where she could’ve if Mai hadn’t cut her off.  
Ty Lee adored Mai as well, but it just wasn’t the same. The relationship that they had never encapsulated the same spark as Azula’s relationship with Ty Lee. It wasn’t Mai’s fault. Ty Lee was just at Azula’s side no matter what. Mai was her best friend.  
Azula was something more.  
And Ty Lee was prepared to follow her to the ends of the Earth.

Ty Lee almost did follow Azula that far. When they met for the first time in years at the circus, she had convinced herself that following the intimidating brunette around the four nations to catch the Avatar wasn’t the right decision. But as soon as Azula turned the corner, announcing that she would stay for the show, her stomach had knotted up. Her mind had changed in an instant and she knew exactly why.  
Azula had the net beneath her lit on fire once she performed. Most people would be horrified or downright enraged at Azula. But not Ty Lee. She could tell she was simply trying to make her perform to the best of her abilities. Azula was always right.  
As she disrobed and waited for Azula to come into the tent, she thought through her options. She needed an excuse for why she changed her mind. So, when the princess stepped inside to wish her farewell and congratulations, Ty Lee explained how the universe was compelling her to leave the circus behind. In a convoluted way, the universe was telling Ty Lee that she needed to go with Azula. It just manifested its message through the longing in her heart.  
And with that, Ty Lee and Azula were reunited once more for their mission. Like during her performance, Ty Lee allowed love to trump fear.  
She wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Mai had always warned Ty Lee about Azula. “Azula is great, but she’d sell you to pirates for a single copper piece if it benefitted her,” she would whisper. Ty Lee would always deny it. Azula cared about her too much.  
“She’s just using us,” Mai would retort. “Maybe she cares about us, let’s go with that. But that doesn’t mean she wouldn’t get rid of us or find a way to dispose of us if we weren’t useful to her anymore. I mean, she’d probably show us mercy or something, but that doesn’t mean she’ll keep us around if we’re not worth the time.”  
It hurt Ty Lee to her core. So every time they had the talk, every time Mai tried to warn Ty Lee that being afraid of Azula was justified, she would cry. Mai couldn’t be right. She just couldn’t be. Pushing down the fear and burying it beneath how much she wanted to be at Azula’s side was all she had to do.  
And before she could try to tell Mai that she wasn’t being fair, that true friends wouldn’t say that about another friend, Mai’s arms were around her.  
Before she could try to pull away and chide her about being so disloyal, Mai would whisper apologies. She would let her disinterested expression melt down to something more. A slanted eyebrow in pity or a twitch of the mouth was all it took to let Ty Lee know that she truly did care.  
She always whispered apologies, assuring Ty Lee that she loved Azula too, but they just had to be careful. She was volatile.  
She said Ty Lee had a reason to be afraid.  
Ty Lee started to fear the worst.

It kept fluctuating. As they took over Ba Sing Se, she revered Azula, but could feel the sinking feeling that she could easily dispose of her. When she talked to Mai, she hated that she was believing her fears about Azula more and more. It wasn’t fair.  
Why did everything have to change? Reuniting with Azula at the circus was supposed to be a good moment- they were finally getting to be together again after years of being apart since boarding school. They were meant to be a team. The girls were back to taking charge of the schoolyard wherever they went. That was who they always were and who they were always meant to be. She shouldn’t have to be afraid of her best friend. They weren’t supposed to have one partner convincing the other that their friend was out to get them, that she wasn’t to be trusted.  
It wasn’t fair that Ty Lee had to try harder and harder to avoid believing Mai as more and more time passed.  
But when they got to Ember Island, it was different. They weren’t working to take down some great enemy at that point. It was a vacation. They would get to have a beach day and party with kids. They would get to be normal kids.  
Friends.  
Every moment that Ty Lee shared with her friends reminded her of who they really were. Not warriors, not political pundits, but teenagers just trying to play volleyball and enjoy the sun. That’s all she wanted.  
And Azula told her she was jealous of her. She asked her for advice. She even apologized for saying something that rocked Ty Lee to the core. It wasn’t like her because it was so sincere.  
She meant what she was saying. And from then on, for the rest of their trip, she didn’t even think about the fear sitting in the pit of her stomach.

But then Mai betrayed them. To save Zuko, a traitor, no less. As Azula and Mai confronted each other, Ty Lee could feel the fear rising with every word being spat being spat out with unbelievable venom. And inevitably, she knew she would have to take a side.  
Mai or Azula. Months earlier, the answer would’ve been clear. Now it was clear as mud. She flinched as the argument escalated.  
“I never expected this from you. The thing I don't understand is why? Why would you do it? You know the consequences,” Azula snarled, eyeing Mai with malice that shielded the rage Ty Lee knew was building inside.  
Mai didn’t react except for a slight furrow of the eyebrows. Ty Lee clapped her hands over her mouth.  
“I guess you just don't know people as well as you think you do,” Mai retorted. “You miscalculated. I love Zuko more than I fear you.”  
Azula exploded with rage, her calculating calm disappearing in a flash. “No, YOU miscalculated! You should have feared me more!”  
Mai unleashed her blades and Azula braced for a fight. There was a beat. Ty Lee looked between them, wanting to scream.  
And as Azula went to lunge at Mai, Ty Lee’s fear trumped her love.  
She chi blocked Azula, squeezing her eyes shut as her now ex-best friend dropped to the ground, paralyzed. For a split second, her world was crumbling. But she quickly sprung to action to save the one thing that could repair it.  
“Let’s go!” she cried, grabbing Mai’s arm. Before they could run, they were accosted by the guards, held captive and now at Azula’s mercy.  
Two guards lifted Azula to her feet. Ty Lee felt sick to her stomach as they locked eyes. Something had shifted. The strong serenity that kept enemies from recognizing her true intentions had disappeared, replaced by clear, unabashed animosity. Her true colors were clear to see for anyone nearby. Ty Lee’s chest tightened as Azula stared at them with extreme rage, and more tellingly, heartbreak. Her eyes were broken, mixing with the fire inside that was coming to light.  
“You’re both fools!” she roared, her hair falling into her eyes. Ty Lee thought she could see the guards begin to sweat.  
“What shall we do with them, Princess?” one of the guards asked.  
Azula didn’t break eye contact with them, especially Ty Lee. Ty Lee felt like breaking apart. “Put them somewhere I'll never have to see their faces again. And let them rot!” Her voice broke slightly.  
The guards yanked them away and threw them into dark, dingy cells. And as the door was pushed shut with a horrific screech, Ty Lee allowed herself to sob.

Azula watched the guards march her best friends away. She could see Ty Lee’s expression shift from the fear she always inspired to sorrow. Mai, as usual, was cold.  
Azula scowled and ordered the guards to take her to the warden’s chambers. She didn’t need them. She didn’t need ‘best friends’.  
However, her heart ached.  
She didn’t need them. But she needed them. 

She was finally released a few weeks later. Mai stood at the door of her cell and held out her hand.  
Ty Lee gasped and plastered on her usual bright smile, grabbing her hand to pull herself to her feet and Mai into a tight hug. A single tear rolled down Ty Lee’s cheek. She knew what this meant.  
The war was over and the Avatar had defeated Fire Lord Ozai. Peace and balance had been restored. What that meant for them, she wasn’t sure.  
What that meant for Azula, she was afraid.

When she found out, her bright smile faded as the new Fire Lord explained what had happened to his little sister. Like Ty Lee’s world when they broke away, Azula crumbled.  
Mai and the Kyoshi Warriors were at her side. She had fallen into a new safety net that she’d never had with Azula or the circus. She was safe with her closest friend and newest allies.  
She was full of and surrounded by love over fear once more.  
And the biggest source of both had been locked away.  
Ty Lee would never be the same without her. For better or for worse.  
And for the second time in her life, Ty Lee truly crumbled as well.

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a Kudos and a comment if you enjoyed! If you have critiques about my writing I would love to hear them as long as they’re constructive. Thank you! <3


End file.
